GB2130896A

GB2130896A - Extendible roller skate

Info

Publication number: GB2130896A
Application number: GB08331055A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Olivieri Oliviero
Original assignee: Icaro Olivieri and C SpA Minuterie Metalliche
Current assignee: Icaro Olivieri and C SpA Minuterie Metalliche
Priority date: 1982-11-24
Filing date: 1983-11-21
Publication date: 1984-06-13
Also published as: GB2130896B; JPS59131857A; GB8331055D0; FR2536290A3; IT8223528V0; FR2536290B3; US4684140A

Description

1

SPECIFICATION Extendible roller skate

The present invention relates to an extendible roller skate.

Extendible roller skates generally comprise support structures constituted by two parts which are mutually telescopically engaged by means, for example, of the sliding coupling of cooperating prismatic guide elements. With roller skates of this form, once the desired length of the skate has been set, the said two parts of the support structure are mutually fixed together by means such as, for example, one or more nut and bolt combinations. In order to increase the clamping force between the two parts when fixed together in their desired positions, it has been proposed to replace the nut of the nut and bolt combination by a suitably dimensioned transverse plate having fine teeth on one of its faces for engaging corresponding teeth formed in one of the parts of the skate structure.

These fixing systems although widely used and also advantageous from several points of view, suffer from a drawback of a technical nature which has not been overcome until now. Thus, during sporting use, it is well known that the skate is subject to considerable forces and particularly to strong and prolonged vibrations which can quickly lead to a permanent, or at least a dangerous, mutual disengagement of the fixing means. On the other hand, it is also easy to find the opposite situation arising in which the nut and bolt become locked together, for example, due to the formation of roughness in the coupling or due to deformation.

Moreover, the adjustment of the length of the skate is always laborious due to the manipulation of the or each nut and bolt combination, the tightening of which always requires the use of a suitable tool.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an extendible roller skate having a device for locking the skate structure at the desired length, with structural and functional characteristics such as to overcome completely the disadvantages mentioned above with reference to the known art.

These and still further objects which will become more apparent in the following description, are achieved by a roller skate having a 115 support structure formed by two parts which are coupled together for mutual telescopic movement in said length direction of the skate, and fixing means for securing said parts in fixed mutual positions corresponding to a desired length of said 120 skate, said fixing means comprising:

- a plurality of notches provided on at least one section of one of said parts and arranged in a row extending in said length direction, -a toothed member guided in the other of the 125 said parts, for movement towards and away from the said at least one section provided with notches, said toothed member having at least one tooth extending towards the said plurality of GB 2 130 896 A 1 notches, - resilient bias means urging said toothed member away from said at least one section provided with notches, and - a presser member operable to move said toothed member, against the action of said resilient bias means, towards the said at least one section provided with notches whereby to engage the said at least one tooth of the toothed member in a corresponding said notch...

Preferably, the presser member is constituted by a [ever having one end in constant contact with the movable plate, this end being formed as a cam with a profile providing two stops for the toothed member.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roller skate extendible in its longitudinal direction and including:

- a support structure formed by two parts provided with cooperating prismatic guide elements that extend along the sides of the skate in positions substantially symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis of the skate, the guide elements of the two parts of the support structure cooperating with each other to slidingly couple together said parts for mutual telescopic movement in said longitudinal direction, one of said parts being formed to define two pluralities of notches aligned along the sides of the skate in the said longitudinal direction, - a movable plate guided in the other part of the support structure for movement towards and away from the said pluralities of notches, the said plate being provided with toothing for simultaneously engaging both said pluralities of notches, - spring means urging said plate away from said pluralities of notches, and - a presser member operable to move said plate, against the action of said spring means, towards said pluralities of notches, said presser member being constituted by a lever having one end that is shaped as a cam and is in contact with, and acts upon, said plate, said cam-shaped end having a profile which defines two stops for the said movable plate.

Further characteristics and advantages will become clear from the following detailed description of an extendible roller skate embodying the invention, reference being made to the appended drawings, given purely by way of non-limiting example, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view from below of a roller skate embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the skate of Figure 1 on an enlarged scale; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 111-111 of Figure 2, again on an enlarged scale; Figure 4 is a section similar to that of Figure 3 but showing the skate in a different position of use.

With reference to the said drawings, an extendible skate generally indicated 1 has a support structure basically constituted by two 2 GB 2 130 896 A 2 parts 2, 3 which are mutually connected by a coupling slidable in the direction of extension of the skate, the coupling being implemented by cooperating prismatic guide elements. More particularly, part 2 of the support structure, which is basically box or female shaped, is formed with rectilinear guide elements 5, 6, 7 and 8 which are in sliding engagement with corresponding guide elements 9, 10, 11 and 12 formed in the other part 2 of the support structure.

The part 3 is provided, along its two side portions extending parallel to the direction of extension of the skate, with respective pluralities of transverse teeth 13, 14 defining corresponding pluralities of transverse notches 15, 16.

A central member generally indicated 17, preferably constituted by a plate, is movably guided in an aperture 18 of complementary dimensions formed in a cross member 19 of the part 2 of the skate support structure, this member 19 extending as a bridge across the other part 3 of the same structure. The plate-shaped central member 17 also extends like a bridge across the two pluralities of teeth 13, 14 mentioned above.

A pin 20 supported by part 2 of the support structure, extends through a longitudinal slot 21 in part 3 of the support structure and through a hole 22 formed centrally in the plate-shaped central member 17.

A second pin 23 is supported transversely by the pin 20 close to the free end 20a thereof and projects beyond the plate-shaped central member 17. A lever 24 is pivoted on the pin 23 and has one end 25 in constant contact with the plate- shaped central member 17.

More particular, the head 25 of the lever 24 is cam shaped and its profile 26 includes two portions 26a, 26b which are spaced at different distances from the pin 23 and constitute two stops for the movable plate-shaped central member 17 as will become clearer from the description below. In particular; the distance of the portion 26a from the pin 23 is less than that of the portion 26b from the pin. 45 Furthermore the two portions 26a, 26b of the cam profile 26 are separated by an intermediate portion 26c which is substantially elbow shaped and includes the points of the cam profile furthest from the pin 23. 50 It should also be noted that, in accordance with 115 a preferred but non-limiting embodiment, the portions 26a, 26b mentioned above are perpendicular to each other. A spring 27 guided by the pin 20 on which it is coaxially mounted, resists the movement of the plate-shaped central member 17 towards part 2 of 120 the support structure of the skate.

The wall of the plate-shaped central member 17 facing part 3 of the support structure of the skate, is formed with a plurality of teeth 28 arranged to simultaneously engage the notches 125 and 16 defined respectively by the pluralities of teeth 13, 14 of the part 3 of the support structure.

Such an engagement is required to mutually lock together the parts 2 and 3 of the support structure of the skate after their positioning in conformity with the desired length of the skate.

To effect said engagement, and also disengagement, of the teeth 28, 13 and 14, it is necessary to move the plate-shaped central member 17 towards and away from the part 3 of the support structure of the skate. It is these movements which are carried out by means of the [ever 24.

In the condition shown in Figures 2, 3, the lever 24 is angularly displaced above the axis of the pin 23 from a position in which the rectilinear portion 26a of the profile 26 of the cam-shaped end 25 of the lever, is in contact with the plate-shaped central member 17 (this contact is ensured by the spring 27).

In this condition, the teeth 28 of the plateshaped central member 17 are spaced and disengaged from the plurality of notches 15, 16 of part 3 of the support structure of the skate. Consequently, the parts 2, 3 of the structure can easily be positioned relative to one another in order to achieve the desired skate length.

When this length is set, the lever 24 is displaced angularly about the pin 23 so as to bring the portion 26b of the profile 26 of the camshaped end 25 of the lever into contact with the plate-shaped central member 17. This angular displacement effects rectilinear displacement of the plate-shaped central member towards the support-structure part 3 with a consequent engagement of the teeth 28 of the central member with the pluralities of notches 15, 16 of the support-structure part 2 (Figure 4).

It should be noted that both the conditions shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 are stable conditions since the plate-shaped central member 17 bears against the rectilinear portions 26a and 26b of the cam-shaped end 25 of the lever 24, whereby the portions constitute stops for the displacements of the central member.

From what has been stated above and from the appended drawings it will be seen how the locking and unlocking device illustrated enables all the disadvantages mentioned with reference to the devices of the known art to be overcome.

In particular, the speed and ease of operation of the illustrated device and also the fact that its locking efficacy is ensured for a practically indefinite period of time, should be noted.

Claims

1. A roller skate extendible in its length direction and including a support structure formed by two parts which are coupled together for mutual telescopic movement in said length direction of the skate, and fixing means for securing said parts in fixed mutual positions corresponding to a desired length of said skate, said fixing means comprising:

- a plurality of notches provided on at least one section of one of said parts and arranged in a row extending in said length direction, - a toothed member guided in the other of the said parts, for movement towards and away from c 3 GB 2 130 896 A 3 the said at least one section provided with notches, said toothed member having at least one tooth extending towards the said plurality of notches, - resilient bias means urging said toothed member away from said at least one section provided with notches, and - a presser member operable to move said toothed member, against the action of said resilient bias means, towards the said at least one section provided with notches whereby to engage the said at least one tooth of the toothed member in a corresponding said notch.

2. A roller skate according to Claim 1, wherein 40 the said presser member comprises a lever having one end in constant contact with the toothed member, said end being formed as a cam with a profile providing two stops for the toothed member.

3. A roller skate extendible in its longitudinal direction and including:

- a support structure formed by two parts provided with cooperating prismatic guide elements that extend along the sides of the skate in positions substantially symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis of the skate, the guide elements of the two said parts of the support structure cooperating with each other to slidingly couple together said parts for mutual telescopic movement in said longitudinal direction, one of said parts being formed to define two pluralities of notches aligned along the sides of the skate in the said longitudinal direction, - a movable plate guided in the other part of the support structure for movement towards and away from the said pluralities of notches, the said plate being provided with toothing for simultaneously engaging both said pluralities of notches, - spring means urging said plate away from said pluralities of notches, and - a presser member operable to move said plate, against the action of said spring means, towards said pluralities of notches, said presser member being constituted by a lever having one end that is shaped as a cam and is in contact with, and acts upon, said plate, said cam-shaped end having a profile which defines two stops for the said movable plate.

4. An extendible roller skate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by the Courier Press, Leamington Spa, 1984. Published by the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies may be obtained.